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All Things:Science Fiction/Fantasy

So What Does Vin Diesel Gotta Do To Bring Us An 'R' Rated RIDDICK Movie??

Via his official Facebook profile, Vin Diesel brings news that the next RIDDICK movie is now extremely close to moving forward - with one hitch. Diesel and returning writer/director David Twohy have repeatedly voiced their firm commitment to making this third installment an "R rated" adventure, but it now seems doing so will necessitate a degree of sacrifice from Mr. Diesel.

Per Vin through his Facebook post...

D T the writer/director just landed in New York with the good news. We can start filming this summer. However, there is a catch... in order for us to make a true R rated film, I must work for scale upfront. Not unlike the "Find me Guilty" experience (which I wouldn't have changed for the world)...

Money is always second to art, integrity and spirit... but the real issue is deeper. Can I suspend my life, to momentarily venture to that dark place... called Riddick.

Given the recent and gargantuan success of FAST FIVE (over $512 million globally and counting - and isn't RIDDICK also at Universal?), it's a safe bet Team Diesel will find a way to leverage a few more goodies out of such an arrangement. It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds. More as we know more...

In a decision that reeks of clueless executive meddling, it seems that the Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptation John Carter of Mars is now going just by the name John Carter.

Really? So you take a title that has survived decades of pop culture relevance and reduce it so it sounds like a single dad movie starring Tom Hanks?

The title was already compromised to begin with, being that they chose John Carter of Mars over A Princess of Mars, but at least I see the reasoning behind that. The movie is about John Carter, not Dejah Thoris and it's hopefully setting up a big franchise with John Carter.

I get having his name be prominent and hell, one of the books was called John Carter of Mars. So that wasn't a huge deal, but taking it back even further kind of pisses me off. Where's the commitment to the sci-fi spectacle? This smells like marketing execs are getting cold feet because their ****ty animated movie had "Mars" in the title and flopped. You know why that movie flopped? Because the trailers look like bottom of the barrel horrible trash.

I'm sure Disney's marketing machine will get behind John Carter in a big way when the time comes, but this drastic step really makes me worried this film is going to be committeed to death by the time it hits screens.

The Film Stage was the first to break this, I believe. (UPDATE: Nope, it was Dark Horizons) So, good on them for the snooping. Hopefully Disney comes to their senses before they start their massive campaign.

"'Neuromancer'-- it's at such an early stage that I'm not 100% attached to it," Natali revealed. "I think it's probably the most influential science fiction novel of the past 25 years. Various people have attempted to do it in the past and it hasn't worked out, I think in part because the book was so in advance of its time."
"Neuromancer" was one of the early works to introduce cyberpunk culture to the world. Published in 1984, the novel predates the existence of the Internet as a widely used resource even though it deals very directly with the idea of a globally networked community and the particulars of navigating through cyberspace. The world presented in the story definitely exists in its own universe, but many of the ideas put forth are forward-thinking to the point that they're only in the past few years becoming truly relevant to us all.

"I feel like right now is the perfect time to make the movie because some of the ideas and notions of traveling through cyberspace and so on are part of the popular consciousness," Natali explained. "So now you can get into the really interesting parts of the story which are related to how we're going to evolve, how machine technologies are going to evolve in tandem with us."

For now however, all of Natali's thoughts on the project remain at the idea stage. "It's really early. I haven't started working on the script," he said. "There's been good work that's already been done by other people that I think I can build on, and I think I can move through it quite quickly. I'm very excited about it."

The most encouraging thing to hear is that Natali is a huge fan of Gibson's work. The filmmaker sees a lot of opportunity in adapting "Neuromancer," even if he doesn't get to do it himself. The only worry for now is translating what amounts to an incredibly complex book to a story that can be related to film audiences in the space of two hours or so.

all of you bastards who did not see SPLICE. Well, you aren't fans of good sci-fi. While it weren't perfect, it certainly was worth seeing/discussing.

attempting William Gibson on film has so far resulted in almost the same way as what happens every time they touch Clive Barker.

whoever it is that's doing Neuromancer really needs to sit and read this stuff while listening to some industrial music. then when he's done, he needs to watch Blade Runner and Hardware back to back. then when he's done doing that, watch Tetsuo. then when he's done doing that, read Neuromancer while listening to some industrial music.

Director Alex Proyas (The Crow) has signed on to produce an independent assassin project entitled Future Perfect. Proyas will oversee the project for director Shane Abbess (Gabriel) according to 24 Frames which cites the film as being in a similar vein as Joe Wright’s Hanna. Future Perfect was written by Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman, the same scribes behind the Zorro reboot, Zorro Reborn. While additional plot details on the project are sparse, the report claims that the script involves two eugenically created assassins, one an older man and the other a young girl, who are on the run from an unspecified pursuer (the same top-secret government agency that funded their creation, perhaps?).

In addition to Future Perfect, Proyas also has an adaptation of Milton’s Paradise Lost and Dracula: Year Zero currently hanging out in development. There is no word on how Perfect‘s Australian-based production will affect Proyas’ work on each of those projects, a notion that may be worthy of concern given his “godfather” role on this latest project. As for Abbess, although 2007′s Gabriel is his only directorial effort to date, at one point the filmmaker was attached to helm Duncan Jones’ Source Code (for which he received a “Thanks” credit in the film).

Apparently The Hangover Part II star Bradley Cooper is a burgeoning screenwriter in addition to being one of the most in-demand actors at the moment. Cooper appeared on Charlie Rose (via SlashFilm) earlier this week, and during their interview the actor revealed that he’s written an adaptation of Dan Simmons’ sci-fi epic Hyperion on spec with a friend. Cooper said that they have submitted the script to GK Films and are currently in negotiations to script the film adaptation. He adds, “Ideally I’d like to direct it, but there’s no way.”

The project has been in development for quite some time, with Scott Derrickson attached to direct in 2009. Cooper’s deal isn’t official by any means, but he’s definitely interested in tackling the material. Hit the jump for a synopsis of Simmons’ novel.

Here’s the synopsis for Hyperion:

On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope–and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

Think I have this on the shelf somewheres, may have to move it up the to-do list.